Piazzetta 961

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solarstar

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Dec 18, 2008
23
Ontario,Canada
IMG_00003212.jpg IMG_00003098.jpg Now that the season is Nearing its end. I thought Id post a couple pics of the 961. Also got the MultiFeuco connected . Things are running great . Many thanks to the group for wealth of Knowledge and posting here
 
Beautiful. I didn't realize Piazzetta had brought the multifuoco units to the US. If you don't mind, how much did it cost?
 
These stoves are expensive as I'm sure you are well aware. In the 5 K range and up. Yes I obviously paid extra for ceramic panels and split fan control. And so on. This was a heating system upgrade for me and I wanted capability / control options / efficiency and the list goes on. My second pic would have been the m55. But could not quantify the igniter issues that I read and heard a lot about. I know people that have them and love them. I think the Piazettta.sales are gaining ground. My stove had gone to NY city. I split the shipping to send it back to the dealer in Canada. It is working great now. Has of course been a learning. Curve. I've had a lot of interest in the stove. As people are getting Very stressed over energy and fuel related bills. Paul
 
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Thanks for the info. I have the Sabrina, but I got the sense that the multifuoco units were newer with interesting ideas, like intake air high, blower low. I would love to see one in action.
 
Very nice looking stove. Found the distributor page with Canadian pricing. (Pacific Energy, BC) Nice to see the manuals there.

How loud are the distribution fans? Difficult to install ducting? Heat transfer through ducting efficient?
 
I have had a 962 installed in my house since the beginning of the season and I am thrilled with it. I have it installed in a first floor office with duct work going from the stove out into my garage, it then turns vertical up through the ceiling into an attic space, and then splits to go through the side walls of two adjacent bedrooms. I terminated the ducts with sidewall registers, the pipe in the attic is 3" insulated aluminum flex, and the riser from the garage to the attic is 3" b vent. I'll post pics at some point when I can. I get excellent heat out of each register location- there are two large distribution fans on the Piazzetta SY 96 series, so you have the flexibility of more duct configurations. I installed the "Y" fitting on the right dist. fan, so this fan heats in the stove room and through the duct system. The left dist. fan heats solely into the stove room. There are levels of adjustment for the distribution fans respective to each heat output setting (there are five). The nice thing when you are running this stove with ductwork is the stove is capable of regulating each distribution fan independently if you choose. Keep an eye on Piazzetta, they are a huge player in Italy and with a company like Pacific Energy partnering with them, I feel completely at ease knowing I will have support from the company well after the purchase of the stove. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for some of the other European stoves with North American distribution channels. Great stove solarstar!
 
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Welcome to the forum! We might not believe you have a 962 unless we see pics;)

When I was looking for my stove, I don't think Piazzetta was around yet. It has some nice features that I wish my stove had. But then, there is something to be said for having two stoves that are nearly identical (Elena Air and Elena).

As to parts support, seems to be OK so far for the Ravelli stoves but I may be able to get parts from Pacific Energy as these stoves share some of the same fans.
 
Maybe I'm on the wrong website, but when I look at PacificEnergy.net, I only see one PIazzetta gas stove.
 
Thanks Lake Girl, I know- pics or it didn't happen. I can tell you my bank account knows it happened!<> Worth every penny though.

Full disclosure- I own a hearth retail shop ( I know- boo/hiss), and I carried the Ravelli pellet stove line in the past and sold quite a few of them. I have personally serviced them as well, and you have two very good stoves. I just have issues with North American support from Gruppo Ravelli. They have changed their North American distribution partners twice in the last three years and the dealer network is practically on their own in my opinion.

Piazzetta is backed by P.E., which is one of my main line stove brands in the store. I have the 962 in my house, and I display the Monia and P955 burning in my showroom. My office manager has a Sabrina at home which he and his wife love. These stoves are not only built like a tank, they are incredibly easy to service as well. That what really sold me on the line, along with the Multifuoco technology and the broad range of price points.

You are correct, there are some parts used for the Piazzetta line that are used for the Ravelli line as well. Mainly the EBM combustion fans off the top of my head, but I wouldn't recommend trying to cross reference parts between manufacturers.

Anyway, I have been lurking in the shadows on this site for a while now but I wanted to join the fun and try to help out as much as possible.
 
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chken, check www.piazzetta.com. That is the website for Piazzetta North America, which is the North American arm of Gruppo Piazzetta coupled with Pacific Energy. The G958 on the P.E. website is being manufactured as a P.E. stove, check out www.townandcountryfireplaces.com which is a Pacific Energy brand as well and you will find some incredible Piazzetta handmade ceramic surrounds being shown with their line of contemporary linear gas and wood fireplaces (yes, I said linear wood fireplace- check out the TCW120, its worth a look)
 
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If you click on the Contact tab at the top of the Piazzetta.com home page, read the fine print underneath the message box. Outside of that, all warranty processing and tech. support is done through Pacific Energy. Pacific Energy is not manufacturing the stoves, they are 100% Piazzetta product. P.E. is helping with importing/distribution and dealer support which is why you won't see their name in plain site on the Piazzetta site.
 
p962man - Most of us have experienced the ouch. Price points may be different but a less expensive stove may feel as painful for that household as yours did for your budget. The returns are the interesting part....

As to being a dealer, there are good ones and bad ones as forum members can attest. Your "full disclosure" is a point in your favor. Your expertise in service will be appreciated.

Ravelli has gone through two more distributors since Northland? Who and why? One of the big selling points for us when we bought the Elena air was the distributor was 1 hour away so felt safe that parts would be handy. Jokes on us:(

Enjoy the fun...
 
Thanks for all the explanation. I had been to the PE site before, because that is what is listed on the back of the manual, and on the outside of the shipping box. However, I had wondered all along about the lack of info on the PE site, which led me to think perhaps something had happened to the business relationship. I'm glad to hear that was only voices in my head!
 
If you click on the Contact tab at the top of the Piazzetta.com home page, read the fine print underneath the message box. Outside of that, all warranty processing and tech. support is done through Pacific Energy. Pacific Energy is not manufacturing the stoves, they are 100% Piazzetta product. P.E. is helping with importing/distribution and dealer support which is why you won't see their name in plain site on the Piazzetta site.
Wow, I know I should read the fine print, but that's some fine print!
 
Oh, so what is the true reason for the not-so-effective air-wash on the Piazzetta?
 
Regarding the air wash- As it was explained to me directly from Piazzetta's North American rep., the air/fuel ratio for Piazzetta stoves is 9 parts air to 1 part fuel as opposed to most other stoves which are in the neighborhood of 35:1. Because of this, the air directed across the glass for the air wash is reduced. This is one reason why the efficiency rating on these stoves start at 85% and head north from there. My justification is if I am benefitting from more "net" btu's being transferred to my house, I am ok with wiping the glass a little more often.
 
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I bought some Meeco's Conditioning Glass Cleaner for the Elena. Pretty impressed by the reduced build-up on the glass especially when using "dirty" pellets - Indecks. I'm curious as to whether it is best to use everyday or whether it can be tapered off to once or twice a week after an initial conditioning period.
 
Regarding the air wash- As it was explained to me directly from Piazzetta's North American rep., the air/fuel ratio for Piazzetta stoves is 9 parts air to 1 part fuel as opposed to most other stoves which are in the neighborhood of 35:1. Because of this, the air directed across the glass for the air wash is reduced. This is one reason why the efficiency rating on these stoves start at 85% and head north from there. My justification is if I am benefitting from more "net" btu's being transferred to my house, I am ok with wiping the glass a little more often.
Interesting. That's quite a difference! Do the european models run with the same air/fuel ratios?
 
Interesting. That's quite a difference! Do the european models run with the same air/fuel ratios?

I'm not sure about that, I would imagine most of the European models similar in design and efficiency would follow suit but I can't say for sure. That's the nice thing about having a stove with an exhaust probe sensor, lower flue gas temps means more heat transfer to the rooms unless you're burning a low btu content pellet. My flue gas temps range between 230 - 275 deg. F., anything less than 212 and you can start running into condensation issues.
 
I'm not sure about that, I would imagine most of the European models similar in design and efficiency would follow suit but I can't say for sure. That's the nice thing about having a stove with an exhaust probe sensor, lower flue gas temps means more heat transfer to the rooms unless you're burning a low btu content pellet. My flue gas temps range between 230 - 275 deg. F., anything less than 212 and you can start running into condensation issues.
Thanks for the tip. My exhaust flue temps are usually around:
230 degrees for feed rate 3
240 to 250 degrees for feed rates 4 and 5
205 to 215 for feed rates 1 and 2.

I've upped the room blower for for feed rates 3, 4 and 5 to 38, the max, which presumably lowers the exhaust flue temp a little. Likewise I've upped the room blower for feed rates 1 and 2 to 36 and 37, respectively, which are higher than the OEM setting of 34 and 35. Do you think I should lower them back to raise my exhaust temps a hair?

Any other setting recs?
 
Thanks for the tip. My exhaust flue temps are usually around:
230 degrees for feed rate 3
240 to 250 degrees for feed rates 4 and 5
205 to 215 for feed rates 1 and 2.

I've upped the room blower for for feed rates 3, 4 and 5 to 38, the max, which presumably lowers the exhaust flue temp a little. Likewise I've upped the room blower for feed rates 1 and 2 to 36 and 37, respectively, which are higher than the OEM setting of 34 and 35. Do you think I should lower them back to raise my exhaust temps a hair?

Any other setting recs?

All the Piazzetta stoves are set up that they can be calibrated with a magnahelic gauge- If you have already made changes to the stoves settings, I assume you have the codes to access the menu parameters screen. There is a brass acorn nut threaded onto a port on the back of your stove above the power cord, this is where you would attach the tubing on your mag. There are factory recommended vacuum readings for each power level, you would adjust your smoke fan rpms to meet those benchmarks. In my experience, if you are burning hardwood pellets, I have found calibrating the vacuum for approx. .02- .03" W.C. above factory recommendation helps prevent build up in the firepot. I just attended the HPBA expo in Salt Lake city and I saw an updated firepot Piazzetta is offering for the larger units (Sabrina, Sveva, P96 series). Its has a stainless steel deflector bolted to the back of the firepot underneath the auger tube, apparently to increase the venture effect in the firepot and help eject the ash. The target vacuum settings for the Sabrina are as follows- power 1 (18P) .24" W.C., power 2 (19P) .26" W.C., power 3 (20P) .30"W.C., power 4 (21P) .34" W.C., power 5 (22P) .38" W.C. Again, this is the factory recommendation, these stoves are operated almost exclusively with softwood pellets in Europe so results will vary when dealing with hardwoods.
 
All the Piazzetta stoves are set up that they can be calibrated with a magnahelic gauge- If you have already made changes to the stoves settings, I assume you have the codes to access the menu parameters screen. There is a brass acorn nut threaded onto a port on the back of your stove above the power cord, this is where you would attach the tubing on your mag. There are factory recommended vacuum readings for each power level, you would adjust your smoke fan rpms to meet those benchmarks. In my experience, if you are burning hardwood pellets, I have found calibrating the vacuum for approx. .02- .03" W.C. above factory recommendation helps prevent build up in the firepot. I just attended the HPBA expo in Salt Lake city and I saw an updated firepot Piazzetta is offering for the larger units (Sabrina, Sveva, P96 series). Its has a stainless steel deflector bolted to the back of the firepot underneath the auger tube, apparently to increase the venture effect in the firepot and help eject the ash. The target vacuum settings for the Sabrina are as follows- power 1 (18P) .24" W.C., power 2 (19P) .26" W.C., power 3 (20P) .30"W.C., power 4 (21P) .34" W.C., power 5 (22P) .38" W.C. Again, this is the factory recommendation, these stoves are operated almost exclusively with softwood pellets in Europe so results will vary when dealing with hardwoods.
Again, thanks so much for all your comments!

I have been using a manometer, off the brass nut, and yes, I've fiddled with my parameter menu settings. I've started with the OEM settings, and then adjusted from there. They match the 0.24 to 0.38 you posted. Of the pellets I've tried the only one that requires me to fiddle with my base settings are the FSUs, Fireside Ultras. Why? Dunno, but the pellets burn completely different from the rest I've tried. Hot, but a really big flame.

Do you think Piazzetta will be offering thru their dealers the new fire pot with deflector? Did you happen to take a pic of the new fire pot?
 
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